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Rare variable star 40 EP

54Chi1Ori

RA 88.5958° · Dec 20.2762° · star

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Score breakdown

· 8 badges
40 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Naked-eye visible +8
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Binary star +6
  • In Orion's hunting ground +6
  • Variable star +5
  • A named variable star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
  • Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) +2
Total score 40

10 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Naked-eye visible · +8
  • Binary star · +6
  • In Orion's hunting ground · +6
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) · +2
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What makes it special

  • Not one star but two. It is a binary: two stars orbiting a shared centre of mass. More than half of all the 'stars' you can see are actually multiple systems.

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G0V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • Where it is in life. It is on the main sequence, quietly fusing hydrogen in its core exactly as the Sun does.
  • It changes. This star does not hold still: its brightness rises and falls on a rhythm of hours, days or years, either pulsing in size or being eclipsed by a companion.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Inside our stellar backyard: every radio broadcast humanity has ever made has already swept past it.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 4.4 you can see it with your own eyes from a dark site, over in Orion.
  • Northern sky. It rides the northern half of the sky — an easier target the further north you are.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around December — that's when to go looking.

Properties

absmag
4.702
binary
yes
bv
0.594
constellation
Ori
dist ly
28.2559
luminosity
1.146
mag
4.39
name
54Chi1Ori
spect
G0V
var amplitude
0.03
var designation
Chi-1
var max
4.379
var min
4.409

About 54Chi1Ori

54Chi1Ori is a rare variable star. It lies about 28.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ori, shines at apparent magnitude 4.39 and has spectral type G0V.

It is a binary: two stars orbiting a shared centre of mass. More than half of all the 'stars' you can see are actually multiple systems.

How to see it

Look for 54Chi1Ori in the constellation Ori. At apparent magnitude 4.39, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Like any astronomical target, 54Chi1Ori is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.

Why 54Chi1Ori is a rare variable star

54Chi1Ori scores 40 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 10 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 8 science badges — Variable star, Naked-eye visible, Binary star, In Orion's hunting ground, Sun-like G-type star, Main-sequence star, Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) and A named variable star — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.